Finite
by Aiko Isari
Summary: (P3) AU. The battle is lost. In search for the Answer, SEES goes back in time. But through that very action, they change fate irrevocably. And the timeline they know just keeps changing. Rating subject to change
1. piece 00

_Warning for spoilers of 'The Answer'/'Episode Aegis', blood, violence, and mental breakdowns_

* * *

piece 00. blood

It's all over.

Aegis pulls for shell after shell, bullet after bullet. The human blood splatters and she doesn't enjoy it. She's never really enjoyed it, the smell or sound of blood. She's always thought about it. She has oil, at the most. The failure of the mission is always eclipsing her concern in that regard.

The arrow is suddenly close to her nose and she snaps it from the air. Her eyes are quietly searching for its wielder. Another fires.

Yukari is really, truly trying to kill her. Which for a human is likely impossible, but congratulations for trying at any rate.

It's insulting and ironic, in its own way.

She mouths her sister's name. Metis' response is swift and rough, smacking into Yukari with such awful, painful force.

Fuuka cries out her surprise, pain, and reproach.

Is this the end of them?

 _Is this how we really are without you? Is this how disgusting we are without you?_

 _Minato-san… I want to see you._

But she doesn't really want to admit it.

Yukari's honesty is truly envy worthy, when she thinks about it.

But Aegis can't think anymore. She has to win. Has to discover the answer. If she doesn't, then everything will be meaningless.

If it already isn't anyway.

* * *

 ** _A/N:_** So... I'm insane, proud of it, and this is me finally getting my butt into Persona 3 again. Pairings are currently undecided, because of plot thing. Also this is told in a similar way to the chapters of the Persona 3 manga, with varying lengths depending on who or what i'm writing about. This is based on an alternate ending of 'The Answer' but of course, things can never be that simple. I hope we all know where this is going. Please read and review! Any pairing suggestions are welcome, for the most part.

Challenges: Diversity Writing Challenge (Anime/Manga) M13. time travel


	2. facet 01

facet 01. _yukari_

Yukari wakes up in the middle of the night. It's spring, but muggy. Her brown hair sticks to her forehead in messy patches, and her pink school uniform is still loose from her failure to take it off in her exhaustion. Her Evoker is clean silver in her dominant hand, reflection visible in the light of the waxing moon.

Today is not March 31st.

Today is the creeping part of spring. She leaps from her bed, leaping with some coiled emotion she can't identify. Her mind tumbles and she follows the crosses on her kitten calendar.

The year is 2009. The date is April seventh.

Today is a very important day. Someone is coming. Someone important. Her heart throbs heavily somewhere in her guts.

Her heart reminds her of blue hair and blank grey eyes but the brightest little smile she had ever seen a person wear. The most earnest and empty.

Red then flashes into her mind. Red and black overcome with rainbow, overcome with blood and gravity, the immense gravity known as inevitability.

Death.

Yukari bolts from her room. She rushes out down the stairs to the kitchenette. Then she runs up the stairs. She has done it, they have done it. They are back.

Mitsuru meets her at her door and when the hug happens, it's without thought but with every thought in the world.

They had won. They were back.

The clock ticks forward. The world lights up green.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ Oh boy, oh boy. I'm trying to see if I can get the next update out before classes start but I'm not holding my breath. I have a lot of longer updates to do so backlogging that is taking a lot of my time. Thanks for all the support right now though, everyone! I didn't think this would get much traction.


	3. chapitre 01

_chapitre 01. april (1)_

Oh my, oh my, what is this?

The train rolled away, leaving its last passenger wandering into a blood puddle. Multiple times. She let out an exasperated huff. "Damn it. Hope this dries up."

 _It should_. _Grandfather wouldn't buy bad shoes for you._

She let out a chuckle. "That's true. Ojii-san invests! For whatever reason." She blinked up at the yellow moon, red eyes shining like the blood she was now trying desperately to dodge. For the sake of the rest of her clothing at the very least. She was not at the dormitory yet, so she didn't have any access to her spare uniforms and definitely not shoes. She barely had much there as it was. She skipped along, humming merrily to herself.

"Merrily we roll along, roll along, roll along. Merrily we roll along, my fair lady~"

She ignored the coffins as she passed. Even the sounds of low gurgling from unmoving pipes and beneath her feet weren't as important as the song she was singing.

At some point, red eyes stared out at her from a bush. The young woman paused and stared right back. She didn't blink first either. She kept walking after it turned away, promptly forgetting about it. "Ne, Nii-chan, are we close?" She spoke seemingly to the air, and then it answered.

 _Two blocks then make a right. You should see the sign. Next time look at your phone. Or your map._

"Ka-ay!" She didn't even sound downtrodden, no matter how loud the sounds became, no matter how many _squelches_ followed her footsteps. People were even screaming and she ignored it. Her headphones drowned it out for the most part anyway, and even if they didn't, she had nothing to fear. This was everyday, or at the very least, weird things were everyday.

Soon she found the building, lush branches weaving through the fence like chains. Very thorny chains. The young woman tittered and stepped to the door, each window tinted a sickly grin. Would the door be unlocked? Would it not? She could always get in. It wasn't like it was hard. Even the wealthy had kind of bad self-preservation because their money was meant to protect them. Never quite did.

With a very gentle push, the door opened. She tittered as quietly as possible. His voice sighed.

 _I thought we'd left Iwatodai for good that time._

"You're here. Finally!"

She looked up from the stains on her shoes to see a small child, ice blue eyes glowing with joy. "Finally! I've been waiting all this time for you. It's been so lonely."

… _Boy, is he laying it on thick._

She didn't pay that any attention. The word lonely stuck in her throat, clotted blood and sad. "I'm sorry," she said, and the young woman meant it deep in her stomach. "I'll be here for a while, so maybe you can come with me. I'll be old enough then."

Surprise flickered onto his face. "Do you mean it?"

She giggled. "I mean, I'll try!"

The boy smiles back. "Then, we'll have it in writing." A contract book opened on the counter. "Hurry. Time won't wait. We all head to that same end. Don't turn away."

"Turning away does no one any good," she told him as she signed.

He beamed at her. "You're quite right." He took the contract from the counter. With a flick of the wrist, it was gone. Then, so was he.

"Let's have fun, shall we? This time."

 _Drama queen._

"Be nice. He's lonely."

Silence. She smiled. Then she stepped forward, preparing to look around. Such a quaint building. Was this really a dormitory? Well, it was a rich person's school, so maybe they could afford dorms like this. After a few steps around, rapid footsteps came from upstairs. Two other women came down, the one with brown hair much faster. Her eyes warred with emotion. Fear, wariness, hope, ending with disappointment?

"Who are you?" The second reached the bottom of the stairs as the first spoke up. "Do you know what time it is? What are you doing here?"

"Yu-Takeba, relax a moment." The second was more controlled but no less wary. "Someone _was_ supposed to come in today, albeit not this late. Did something happen?"

She blinked at the two of them and then said. "Your red hair is beautiful!"

The second flushed and paused. "I beg your pardon?"

"It is!" She insisted, tapping at her shoes. "You must work hard to keep it that way!"

"I see…" even in the dark, color flooded the woman's cheeks. Aww! "Now, if you could answer my quest-"

The lights flickered back on, bringing them all into full relief. Takeba took a step back for some reason and the second raised her eyebrows.

"Mitsuru-senpai," Takeba began, shrinking back. Mitsuru nodded warily.

The last occupant frowned at them in confusion. Then she snapped her fingers. "Oh, right. Someone jumped in front of a train this afternoon. Took a while to adjust the lines." She saluted. "I'm Yuki Makoto! Nice to meet you!"

They stared at her. Makoto blinked. "What's the matter?"

 _How dull._

Mitsuru seemed to come back to herself. "Do you know a boy by your name, by any chance? We had heard a boy was to transfer here at the last minute."

Makoto nodded at once. "You mean my brother? It's not possible for him to transfer here. He's dead."

"... I'm sorry?"

Makoto bobbed in place. "Yep! Nii-chan and I have different kanji. If you check the data, it'll probably say "courage" instead of "happiness". Uncle sometimes mixes them up." she stretched. "Anyway, nii-chan has been dead for about a decade now. I'm coming back as per our parents' last wishes. Let's get along, okay?"

She took their silence as agreement and went upstairs with Takeba. If it wasn't after midnight she'd have taken the stairs

"Oh, you guys provide sheets!"

Takeba paused a moment. "Yeah? The group who owns the school gives you them and the laptop over on the desk there. You have to make sure to return them at the end of your time. I've had mine for years." Her voice relaxed a little, like for a moment she was forgetting whatever it was that bothered her about looking at Yuki herself.

"Really?" Yuki leaned close for a second but then pulled back to let out a yawn. "Ah, sorry. It's pretty late. We should get some sleep, Takeba-chan."

Takeba's face seemed to shutter again. "Yeah, that's true." She tried to smile. "Good night."

Yuki shut the door and waited for her footsteps to fade down the hallway. "What a weirdo," she murmured, and went to bed.

She opened her eyes to a pair of golden ones framing a surprised mouth in a pleasant smile. "Oh my," she heard. "A new guest and an old guest. What an interesting situation."

"You're pretty," Yuki told her with a beaming smile.

The strange woman laughed and in her head, Yuki's brother sighed.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ I didn't forget about this, see! I just ended up having to stop early so the chapters aren't all absurdly different lengths. So we're going to stop here and then get it going again with a couple more shorter chapters, then longer, and so on as all parts slowly get longer. I hope you can bear with me some more here.

"courage instead of happiness* - The MC's first name in the movies is translated as courage. In this case, FeMC's Yuki is written with the kanji for happiness. Are these both entirely accurate to the characters? Maybe! You'll just have to decide as we go on. Hehe. Anyway, thank you once more for your patience and please drop a review if you have the time.


	4. piece 01

piece 01. grief

It's a March rain.

It had rained all through the night of March 31st, a thousand times over. To most people it was just one day. To those in the know, it was a literal manifestation of depression. None of them would admit this, least of all the cause

Junpei watched the rain fall, hand where his heart was. He didn't like this. Not even losing. He could get that. But dying again, dying after Chidori had given up her everything so he didn't.

His eyes flickered to Yukari, hidden underneath his baseball cap. She twirled the key in her hand. The smile on her face was unnatural for her. She looked smug. The Yukari he had known had never looked smug. Proud, yeah, pleased, yeah, but not like this. Not this ugly way.

Maybe she had loved Yuki after all. WIth Yukariicchi, it's very hard to say. But everyone mourns differently.

Still, as he had realized, her mourning shouldn't be costing the universe its future.

And what were they going to do about Nyx now?

All of these questions they all had to answer. That was probably the only reason the key wasn't in the front door right now.

That, and Aegis was standing in front of it, blocking the lock. It was a sore loser move but… Junpei understood.

Metis too, was dead. And it was really their fault this time.


End file.
